Dr. Seuss book sales soar after publisher drops 6 titles over racist imagery
Oh, the books you’ll sell!
Just two days after an announcement that six Dr. Seuss titles would be pulled over racist and insensitive content, two of the country’s major online book retailers began noticing a substantial spike in sales of some of the books written by the popular children’s author and illustrator.
On Thursday morning, 18 Dr. Seuss titles were on Barnes & Noble’s top 20 bestseller list. Over at Amazon, nine Dr. Seuss books made up the site’s top 10 bestseller list.
On Tuesday, the company that preserves the author’s legacy, Dr. Seuss Enterprises, announced that it would stop publishing six of its titles due to racist imagery: “And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street,” “If I Ran the Zoo,” “McElligot’s Pool,” “The Cat’s Quizzer,” “Scrambled Eggs Super!” and “On Beyond Zebra!”
“These books portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong,” the organization said in a statement, “Ceasing sales of these books is only part of our commitment and our broader plan to ensure Dr. Seuss Enterprises’s catalog represents and supports all communities and families.”
The news wasn’t all great for Suess sales on Thursday, however, as eBay said it would not list any of the six problematic titles anymore.
Tuesday’s announcement, which fell on the birthday of the author, born Theodor Seuss Geisel, was immediately slammed by a number of conservative cable news personalities, politicians, and outraged social media users, who criticized the move as a prime example of the dangers of “cancel culture.”
“Now 6 Dr. Seuss books are cancelled too?,” Sen. Marco Rubio, a Republican from Florida, asked on Twitter. “When history looks back at this time it will be held up as an example of a depraved sociopolitical purge driven by hysteria and lunacy.”
According to Dr. Seuss Enterprises, the decision to discontinue the titles was made last year with the help of a panel of experts, including teachers.
Books by Dr. Seuss, who was born in 1904 and died in 1991, are currently sold in more than 100 countries.
Last year he ranked at No. 2 on Forbes’ list of highest-paid dead celebrities, behind only pop superstar Michael Jackson.
“Nearly 30 years after his death, Dr. Seuss is hotter than ever, earning an estimated $33 million before taxes this year — up from just $9.5 million five years ago,” according to the magazine.
